Molecular Microbiology Research, 2025, Vol.15, No.1, 10-17 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/mmr 15 7 Application of Immune Genes in Prevention and Vaccine Development 7.1 Screening and application of immune gene markers To make goats more resistant to disease, finding suitable immune gene markers is very important. Studies have found that some cytokines, such as IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4, rise significantly in goats who have received FMD vaccine (Yang et al., 2018). These changes can be used to determine whether the vaccine is effective. There are also antiviral genes like IRF3 and ISG15, whose expression levels are also associated with immune responses. They may serve as a “reference point” for judging which goats are more antiviral (Manjunath et al., 2017). With these genetic markers, we can select more resistant individuals to help us improve the immunity of the entire herd. 7.2 Progress in FMD vaccine development based on immune gene expression At present, some vaccine research has focused on the expression of immune genes. After getting vaccinated, scientists will detect changes in related genes in goats to judge whether the vaccine is effective. A study showed that goats vaccinated with the pentavalent FMD vaccine had less detoxification and had a lighter fever, indicating a stronger immune response (Lazarus et al., 2020). Some people have also studied the relationship between Th cytokines and T cell subpopulations and found ways to improve the protective capacity of vaccines (Maqbool et al., 2021). These findings have laid the foundation for designing stronger vaccines and longer immunity in the future. 7.3 Application of gene editing technologies to enhance disease resistance in goats Gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, are now also being used to enhance animals’ resistance to disease. Although it is still a fresh start on goats, many studies are already trying to modify genes related to immunity, such as those encoding cytokines or interferon-related proteins (Minesso et al., 2024). If these key genes can be "adjusted", stronger goats may be able to breed them to make their natural immune response better. Not only can it reduce illness, but it can also improve the health level of the entire breeding group. Acknowledgments Authors sincerely thank Dr. Li X. from Hainan Institute of Natural Resources for his guidance and assistance in improving this research; We also want to thank the peer review for their suggested modifications. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The authors affirm that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. References Chen Q.L., Zhang Z.X., Chen S., Chen J., Cheng Y.W., Liu A., Li B., Chen Z., Zheng Y.Y., Ga M., Du L., and Wang F.Y., 2021, Genome-wide differential expression profiling of pulmonary circRNAs associated with immune reaction to Pasteurella multocida in goats, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8: 615405. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.615405 Eschbaumer M., Stenfeldt C., Smoliga G.R., Pacheco J.M., Rodriguez L.L., Li R.W., Zhu J., and Arzt J., 2016, Transcriptomic analysis of persistent infection with foot-and-mouth disease virus in cattle suggests impairment of apoptosis and cell-mediated immunity in the nasopharynx, PLoS ONE, 11(9): e0162750. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162750 Hussain M.H., Body M.H.H., Al-Subhi A., Al-Senaidi N., Eltahir H., Mansoor M., Al-Zadjali M., Al-Habsi S., Aluahmadi S., Al-Subhi R., Al-Beloushi M., Al-Riyami B., Al-Rawahi A., and Al-Maawali M., 2019, Seroepidemiology of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus non-structural protein (NSP) antibodies in the livestock of Oman, Acta Tropica, 199: 105106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105106 Jarczak J., Słoniewska D., Kaba J., and Bagnicka E., 2019, The expression of cytokines in the milk somatic cells blood leukocytes and serum of goats infected with small ruminant lentivirus, BMC Veterinary Research, 15: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-2182-4 Lazarus D.D., Peta F., Blight D., Heerden J., Mutowembwa P.B., Heath L., Blignaut B., Opperman P., and Fosgate G., 2020, Efficacy of a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine against a heterologous SAT1 virus challenge in goats, Vaccine, 38(24): 4006-4015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.04.014
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